The Diplomat
The general director of National Security and Territorial Surveillance (DGST) of Morocco, Abdellatif Hammouchi, held several meetings this week in Madrid with his Spanish counterparts to address the joint fight against terrorist threats, organized crime, irregular immigration networks, human trafficking and drug trafficking.
According to the Moroccan state news agency, MAP, Hammouchi met with the director general of the National Police, Francisco Pardo Piqueras, and the General Commissioner of Information, Eugenio Pereiro Blanco. Likewise, and apart from his attendance at the official celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the creation of the Spanish National Police Corps, the Moroccan representative met with the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez Ruiz, and the Commissioner General of Immigration and Borders, Julián Ávila Polo.
These interviews with the heads of the Spanish security services, according to MAP, made it possible to review the important results obtained in the field of cooperation in the field of security between Morocco and Spain, especially in matters of operational coordination and technical assistance to confront to terrorist threats and different forms of organized crime, particularly irregular immigration networks, human trafficking and drug trafficking, among others.
Abdellatif Hammouchi participated in the official celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the creation of the Spanish National Police Corps, invited by the general director of this institution. He was the only African security and intelligence official who participated in these celebrations, which were attended by King Felipe VI of Spain.
Cooperation between Spain and Morocco in this area is governed by the Convention between Spain and Morocco on cooperation in security and the fight against crime, including terrorism, trafficking in human beings and illegal immigration, which entered into force on April 30, 2022, three weeks after the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and King Mohamed VI of Morocco signed the roadmap for the relaunch of bilateral relations at the Rabat Palace in Madrid.
Pegasus
As journalist Ignacio Cembrero reported yesterday in the newspaper El Confidencial, Hammouchi is considered the main driver of the use of Pegasus malicious software in Moroccan mass espionage services, both inside and outside the country’s borders. In addition, the Moroccan responsible is being investigated by French Justice for torture in secret detention and interrogation centers in Morocco.
The Moroccan authorities have tried on several occasions to bring to court Ignacio Cembrero, the journalist who brought to light Rabat’s involvement in spying on the mobile phones of several Spanish leaders (including Pedro Sánchez, the Minister of Agriculture and former ambassador in Rabat, Luis Planas; the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya; and the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles), and even his own personal mobile phone. The Pegasus case has become a “hot potato” for the Spanish Government, which has done everything possible to get it off its back so as not to anger Rabat in the process of recovering relations with its southern neighbor.
